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The official residence of the Philippines' ambassador in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward, which is now facing demolition. (Mainichi)

A plan to transform the historic residence of the Philippine ambassador to Japan in Tokyo into a skyscraper has sparked off opposition from both home and abroad.

Located on a hill in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward, the Western-style residence was built in 1935 by the late Iwajiro Yasuda, a grandson of the Yasuda conglomerate founder. The building was later purchased by a former Philippines president in 1944, and subsequently was turned into an ambassadorial residence.

However, according to a local news source, the Philippines government plans to demolish the house to construct a 21-story building, the top floor of which will be used as the new official residence. The Philippine government is expecting an income of about 5.7 billion yen by leasing the high-rise building to developers, with a tender scheduled for Nov. 11.

An opposition campaign has already been launched by academics and citizens' groups. Cesar Santoyo, a member of the Center for Japanese-Filipino Families, who handed over a protest letter together with other campaigners to the embassy on Tuesday, said that they would stage a demonstration in front of the ambassador's residence on Sunday afternoon.

President of the Philippines-Japan Society Francis Laurel, who spent part of his childhood at the embassy with his father, a former ambassador to Japan, said: "We planted a lot of cherry trees in the garden when we were living in Tokyo. Our Tokyo residence is said to be the most beautiful among all the ambassadorial residences overseas. The historic architecture is an asset to both countries."

The place also holds childhood memories for avant-garde artist Yoko Ono, a niece of the original owner.

"I used to look at Mt. Fuji from a small observation deck on the third floor. I was really impressed to see that the building was well preserved when I visited there about six years ago," her agent quoted Ono as saying.